I don't consider myself a collector but I do have a box of knives.
Mostly pocket knives but some fixed blades.
I have probably 100 or more.
I have always liked knives and I have carried a pocket knife since I got my first one on my 8th birthday.
In school when the teacher needed a knife she would always ask for mine because she knew I had one and she knew it would be sharp.
Today she would call the police, the school would be locked down and I would be arrested and suspended permanently.

That's about right for the school situation. To be an institution of & for education, operated and ran by educators, schools have became one of the dumbest organizations in the US.

I don't remember just what age I was when I got my first knife, but I was young. I carried one all through school, as did virtually all the other boys did and some of the girls (the tom boys at least also had knives).

There were fights from time to time, but nobody ever used a knife on anyone else, or broke a coke bottle to use on someone else either.

I have a number of user knives, from the EDC knife to some specialty knifes that may only see use from a few times each year to only once or twice a year. As my age increases their use seems to get less with each year.

I also collect knives, but unfortunately I did not stick with a central theme, style or brand. Those that caught my eye and I could afford were added to the collection when younger, although now I do try and be a little more discerning with the units I purchase. There was a local knife dealer a few years back, and he always kept a few nice select units and he knew I collected knives. He would often dig out units not on display for myself and a few other similarly interested individuals, and I will add he was a most honest, knowledgeable and reputable individual both personally & professionally. I picked up a number of unusual items from him over the years.

At a gun & knife show with my neighbor, several years back, I pointed out a knife on one table to my friend and made the comment, "I have one just like that one." The seller assured me, I could not possibly have one like it, they were available in such limited quantities. I picked the knife up, so I could read the serial number. After putting the knife down, I told my friend, "My knife also came with a small wooden box." Immediately, the seller asked, "If I wanted to sell the box?"

My reply, "Now how could I possibly sell you a box which came with a knife that I can not possibly have," and walked away.

The arrogance and stupidity of some people is beyond believe. Only the first few hundred knives came with a box and the sellers knife was not in the serial number range to have came with a box, but being an unscrupulous seller, I suspected, after his desiring to buy my box, I am sure he would have jacked the price up considerable on his knife (with the box added) had he been able to pick up a box, and sold it to any unsavvy purchaser beyond its fair market value.

I knew a guy whose wife worked at Gerber back in the 70s.
He had more Gerber knives than he could count.
He had pre production knives that Gerber never sold.
He had knives that Joseph Gerber didn't have.
Not sure what happened to him or the knives after his divorce.

I also collect knives, but unfortunately I did not stick with a central theme, style or brand. Those that caught my eye and I could afford were added to the collection when younger, although now I do try and be a little more discerning with the units I purchase.

I would say I'm in the same boat.

Although the last 10 years or so, I have been hunting deer more often than the prior years - so it seems like I am starting to focus on skinning knives.

I also received a hand full of knives from my Uncle, these have a lot of character to them and you can tell they were used very heavily. Sure wish I could put an edge on knives like my Uncle did.

I have more Ducks Unlimited knives than anything else, and wish I had stayed with strictly one theme, but one day the boy can add them all to his. Most of his I have gave him for birthdays or Christmas, but not every year, so as not to become to predictable.

i collect soilengen stag knifes, i also have collected american made folders for some years now, mostly schrade. i have a 'like new ' schrade that has the name of the town i live in engraved on it, it was a "Safty and Productivity" award from the mine that has the same name. given by the company sometime in the 1970's.

i have gotten a number of very nice folders from long ago that had one of the blades ground down to almost nothing, its a enjoyment project for me, i weld new blades onto the existing stub and make them look like a knife again.

i recently got a hubberus that looks like the old edge brand 490, they are still making these in germany. i usto have a pre war 490, for years it was my constant companion, work and play and everything inbetween, butchered meat and chopped wood by the armload.

__________________
So ya'll use this to escape reality ? Well i am reality potheads.